It’s an imperfect system, but Arlington Alert remains Arlington County’s go-to way of informing tens of thousands of residents about local emergencies.
The county’s emergency communication system, which counts over 35,000 members of the public as users, is designed to keep people informed about local traffic, hazardous weather and other major events.
In practice, a large portion of the alerts involve mundane day-to-day occurrences like lane closures due to collisions or other unexpected issues.
Analysts at the county’s Situational Awareness and Intelligence Unit (SAIU) monitor police and fire radios, Computer-Aided Dispatch (CAD) notes and traffic cameras to keep track of what’s going on, said Aisha Mbowe, spokesperson for the Department of Public Safety Communications and Emergency Management.
Sometimes, there’s an art to deciding when to alert the public about an event.
“Traffic alerts prioritize major roads in Arlington County,” Mbowe told ARLnow. “There are many factors that go into the decision to issue a traffic alert in Arlington. These include whether the traffic disruption would cause significant delays and detours for a large number of drivers, the time of day, and the expected duration of the impact.”
Admittedly, the SAIU doesn’t know about everything. Last week, a downed tree and power lines resulted the closure of busy Military Road for the better part of a day — but no alert went out. Mbowe explained that while someone is always on call, the unit is not staffed from 1-5 a.m. on most days, and the tree fell around 1:30 a.m.
“The SAIU was not aware of the road remaining [closed] following the initial notice of the scene being cleared,” Mbowe said.
Additionally, last month the Key Bridge was closed for several hours while Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and other European leaders visited D.C. Though drivers began posting about the closure during their morning commutes, an Arlington Alert didn’t go out until around noon.
Mbowe noted that this particular closure came “under the direction of an outside jurisdiction,” and the SAIU had to contact the National Capital Region watch desk to learn what was happening. She encouraged people to use various other platforms — such as Waze, Google Maps, Apple Maps and local news stations — to keep informed about traffic conditions.
“Arlington Alerts are not commonly issued for dignitary movements, as such events generally last a short time,” she said. “An alert was sent when it became clear that this closure would be longer than usual.”
Coordination with other agencies was also a weak point for the emergency communications team in summer 2024, when an Arlington Alert about a boil water notice went out over an hour after DC Water issued a similar advisory.
Nevertheless, Arlington Alert — operated as part of a regional contract with notification provider Everbridge — remains a key outlet for finding out about emergencies for many local residents.
About 14% of Arlington County’s population is signed up for the alert system, “exceeding regional and national benchmarks,” Mbowe said.
“It operates on an opt-in basis, meaning residents subscribe to receive alerts and are able to customize which alerts they want to receive and how,” she said.
The county is currently encouraging residents to sign up for alerts as part of a National Preparedness Month campaign.
“Arlington Alert connects residents with timely information, whether it’s a safety warning, road closure, or severe weather,” Mbowe said. “This service is a key step for individuals who live and work in Arlington to stay prepared and ensure they have multiple ways to remain informed during emergencies or disruptions in the county.”
